Daniel Smith, one of Kerri’s guests at 10:20 a.m. today, wrote a blog post for the New York Times last weekend in which he described his methods of coping with anxiety. Here’s an excerpt:

The promising thing about a habit is that it is not the same thing as a fate. An alcoholic, we are told, is always an alcoholic — but not every alcoholic drinks. Similarly, an anxious person will always be at risk of anxiety, but he needn’t be troubled by it on a daily basis. He can avoid his own tendencies. He can elude his own habit.

To accomplish this, however, he has to work, and work hard. He has to fight — every day of his life, if he’s got it bad — to build new patterns of thought, so that his mind doesn’t fall into the old set of grooves. He has to dig new tracks and keep digging.

As for what that digging entails, I have my preferences. Over the course of my anxious life, I have found two reliable methods to keep my anxiety at bay: Zen meditation and cognitive-behavior therapy.

What’s your experience? If you struggle with anxiety, how do you handle it?

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Well….regular, intense exercise; spirituality; friends; medication; rituals; family support; faith; and “punching” back at the world….

kristi petty

I have severe anxiety disorder and agrophobia. I had to move out of my house and in with my parents for the past 6 monthes. I go to a pschiatrist, mental and mind classes, therapy and on paxil 60mgs along with xanax. Ive suffered from anxiety since i was 8 years old. my uncle raped me fom the time i was 8 yrs old until i turned 13yrs old. I have learned that self talk works well and therapy for sure!! The breathing techniques work for me too!! recongnizing what exactly your disease is help to!

Emma

My anxiety has caused a deluge of effects on my health, from tension headaches to weight loss to acid reflux to just wanting to be alone. For me, I know exactly what causes my anxiety, but the triggers are out of my control. My anxiety is not genetic, it is something that my environment has caused, and the root problems are not easily fixable. I am on medication, I do creative activities to focus my mind differently, I exercise, and spend time outdoors. I will also say, a companion pet, whether it be a dog or cat, helps greatly!

Steve

I am a person who has anxiety issues, which I share with my mother and her two sisters. I am terrified of passing this to my children and how to help them through it when I find it challenging to keep in under control for myself.

Katie

Remembering to BREATHE!!!! Yoga is great. having a safe place to talk, whether its Therapy or a close friend/family member. Sometimes I just have to have an OUT LOUD conversation with myself. What am I upset about? Why…why…why…why is that…ok, and why is that?

The old tapes that play in our heads are the most dangerous, but they can be changed.

Daniel Hennessy

Sometimes when i take caffeine it pushes me over the anxious edge, could you comment on that please.

Chad

Hearing the word anxiety makes me anxious. This conversation is very hard to listen to.

Laura

I complete agree with Katie. Having conversations out loud is very helpful in working through the “distortions” because I am in my head too much otherwise. Yoga and simple breathing has been my saving grace. On my desk at work, I have an OM symbol to remind me to breathe when I need a break. CBT was very helpful in starting this process. Thank you for the discussion.

Mark

I have experienced anxiety throughout my life. It made work much more difficult although I am successful. After surgery I began practicing mindfulness meditation. This has been particularly helpful for me. Specifically this practice has helped me to calm my mind as well as realize that thoughts are just mental activity and I don’t need to get caught up in them.

Previously I tried to stamp out these thoughts which just made it worse. Ironically, when I approach the body sensations and thoughts with a sense of curiosity, it tends to take the power from the anxiety.

Exercise and good nutrition are also very helpful.

Abbot Hospital has a program called resiliency training that focuses on meditation, nutrition and exercise. I found this to be helpful.

Sarah

This type of anxiety is unfortunately deeply programmed into my automatic thinking, while outwardly I appear to be able to deal with things. I am in therapy and have learned about reprogramming my thinking, but it is such a time consuming process to overcome these automatic responses that I find it hard to make the time in my busy life to stop and practice the strategies…which is a bit ironic. I do see that reprogramming my thinking is the key. Thanks for the discussion.

Lori

I (and my whole family) have struggled with anxiety our whole lives, and it’s been viewed as our curse. At a young age I was prescribed one thing after another until, in my mid-20’s I went to a Psychiatrist who actually listened before he wrote prescriptions. He asked me to think about who this country is made up of. I thought it strange, but he went on to say we are a restless nation. The people who came here wanted to find something more. Whether out of necessity or looking for a better future, we sought more. We’re thinkers. It’s debatable, I know, but I had never met a doctor who didn’t approach my anxiety as a disease or affliction – something that needed fixing. I liked the philosophical approach, and from there on out I didn’t look at it as such torture, but as part of who I am. CBT worked wonders as well. It’s about getting to know yourself and loving yourself first and foremost, I think. And yes, slow down and breathe!

Gaffa

My anxiety has basically derailed my life. I’ve tried drugs, DBT, group therapy — they all help in their own way, but I’m still here, stuck in an endless loop of my own creation.

I was “supposed” to be one of the lucky ones. I got nearly $100,000 dollars in scholarships out of high school, could have gone to any college in the world for free, was on the fast track for an awesome career. My anxiety kept me from reaching for big things, and I stayed in a local community college. I nearly flunked out from there, but then rallied enough to graduate cum laude. But, every day, the constant worry, the constant fear, it just wears on you.

I haven’t used the gifts I’ve been given. I’ve gone from dead-end minimum wage job to another one, because every time I try to foment a plan to improve my life, all these horrible “what ifs” keep my head down, my life path strictly without risks, my soul crushed.

That being said, I want to reach out to my fellow sufferers, and remind them that therapy, friends, and family are vital to keep in touch with to survive the hands we’ve been dealt. I’m lucky in that my family is loving and supportive to a fault, my friends have been wonderful, and at least my large amounts of scholarships got me three college degrees (I was a triple major) with no college debt, so I’ve been able to survive a bad job situation without major debt stress.

I keep trying to reach for something to improve my life. I keep overreacting and feeling like I’ve gotten stung time and again, when looking at it with a more rational, objectionable view show I really shouldn’t be so concerned, that I have the skills required to live a happy life. Perhaps this will be the year that I live up to my expectations. I’ll just be happy if this is the year I live a life that I just enjoy, without the constant fear behind every choice I must make.

Thank you for this particular segment, MPR.

Mark

I have experienced anxiety for much of my life. It has made work and education much more difficult.

After surgery, I started practicing mindfulness meditation. This has been very helpful to me as it has helped me learn to calm my mind as well as realize that thoughts a just mental activity and I dont need to let them dominate my thinking.

I used to try to stamp out anxious thoughts but it made it worse. Ironically, approaching the body sensations and thoughts with a sense of curiosity helps to take the power from these thoughts.

Abbot Hospital has a program call Resiliancy training that incorporates meditation, nutrition, and exersize. I found this to be particularly helpful.

Sara

My mother, husband and eleven year old son suffer from anxiety. My husband has chosen medication. My mother never acknowledged anxiety and is currently in a nursing home psych ward. I work very hard with my son, seeking out help for kids on this issue. The Mayo clinic’s advice correlates with our experience with our child–flooding works best with kids. (Flooding is to overwhelm to body’s anxiety response in order to get past a fear. But his system is wired tense and intense. My goal is to give himtools and persuade him that he is mellow.

Eric Ringham

Thanks, everybody, for the great conversation. You might want to check out the Anxiety feature on the Opinionator blog at the New York Times:

Some of the essays are fascinating. Three of them are by Daniel Smith, who we just heard on the air with Kerri.

Liz

I only got to hear the very end of this segment this morning. It was enough to know I will listen to it tonight. I am anxious to look at the book also.

I have been dealing with anxiety for many years now. Medication has helped, but in the last year I have learned how much a healthy diet and regular exercise help me. When I drink too much caffeine or eat too much sugar, I can feel the anxiety creeping up on me again. I’ve also learned stretching and breathing helps. I also have discovered that if I have a list of things I need to do during the day, it helps keep me focused. I also listen to MPR News whenever I can. Seriously, it gives me something to focus on instead of whatever issues my brain decides to ruminate on and continue on spin cycle.

I have been reading about the issue of shame and I don’t know if there is any data that supports a correlation between shame and anxiety. As I’ve been reading (see Hazelden for resources on “How to Change your Thinking About Shame” and other topics such as anxiety) I can certainly see a correlation for myself.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has noticed this.

Shanda

I started having anxiety 3 years ago during a particularily stressful time of my life. My grandmother passed away, I was putting in about 70 hrs per week at work and (although I can’t prove that this is related) I had tried out a different form of birth control- the depo shot.

One day at work I had my first panic attack. Shaking uncontrollably, sweating, felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest, heart beating in my ears- the whole shebang. I was only 25 at the time and I was very scared.

I went to my doctor, got on meds, switched back to my old birth control and found a therapist. The worst part was finding out which medication would work best for me. The hard part is that the anxiety meds sometimes take a month to kick in. I felt very depressed during this time because I was worried I would never get my old life back.

I was nervous to leave the house, to drive, couldn’t eat because my stomach was constantly upset and I had painful acid reflux.

Everyday I would push myself to do more than the day before- walk around the block, drive with a passenger, drive by myself. I got lots of rest, excersize and cut out all stimulants- caffene, sugar, alcohol. Everyday the progress I made had me feeling stronger and more confident. And not long after I got my life back and returned to work, eating what I wanted, and my normal life.

Now days I keep my sickness in check with medication but every so often I can feel a little bit of the anxiety creep up. This usually happens when I haven’t been taking good care of myself and I have to go back to my routines above.

I am person living with anxiety and I think more needs to be shared about the fact that you can have anxiety and lead a normal life. Everything I read scared me by saying things like- quit your job, move to a more peaceful area, never indulge again. I was 25 and that REALLY scared me. I loved my life and didn’t want to change it… and what I realized is that I didn’t have to change it that much. I can still go out dancing with my friends, I can still ride rollercoasters, I can still live in Minneapolis. But now I have the coping mechanisims so when I feel it coming on I can keep it in check and I have a strong support network to help me through.

Kelly

I thought I would add my two cents to this discussion, and hopefully any of those still suffering of anxiety and feel debilitated by this, will find some comfort. I have had anxiety for the majority of my life, but had a life changing, severe, panic attack last winter. I was so fearful, so scared and worried I would never be able to live a normal life again. I will say through much research, time, and work, I am feeling normal again. I do feel the anxiety or panic creep up from time to time, but have successfully been able to stop it from going full blown. I found the book “Hope and Help For Your Nerves” by Claire Weekes to be an EXCEPTIONAL book. I think all those suffering from anxiety should read it. When you have anxiety, it might be difficult for you to talk about and read about it, but take your time and push yourself to face it and read about it. You won’t be disappointed.

I was initially subscribed medication, an excessive amount, and for me, I think I felt worse on them. I am now down to 5 mg of a daily medication, which may just be serving as a placebo at this time. Diet and exercise are important. Watching your caffeine and sugar intake and something as simple as taking a walk are beneficial.

I did go and see Henry Emmons, who has written “The Chemistry of Joy” and “The Chemistry of Calm”. He is a gentle man, and I would highly recommend him. He is not covered by insurance, so it may be costly, but he has been worth every penny. If you absolutely cannot afford to go see him, he sometimes does seminars, so keep your eyes open for him and see if you may be able to attend a free seminar.

If anything, try not to let your anxiety and panic shape your life. It’s hard not to when it takes over, but face it, understand what is happening in your body when the anxiety is taking over, and take control of it. It takes time, but be patient…